St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1887-01-22

THE LION AND THE LAMB.
Ignatius Donnesly and j. j. Hill
HarmoniOusly Discuss the Rail-
road QueatiOn.
1t was amusing and entertaining to those
who attended the meeting of the railroad
committee yesterday. Mr.. Donnelly had
invited the railroad officials to attend the
meeting and discuss his proposed amend
ment to the constitution in relation to the
control of railroad corporations. In re-
sponse to this delegation of railroad men
appeared at room IS, at the capitol, headed
by j. j. Hill. the bosom friend and ardent
admirer of Mr.. Donnelly. And the
way these two worthless smiled upon
each other and endeayored to excel in
courtesy was a sight to see. 1t was MIR.
Donnelly"-with a winning smile and
profound bow; and MI. HiIl'-with a
bewitching smile and an impressive bending
of the head and upper part OF the body. A
stranger would have taken them to be
chums and lifelong friends. Mr.. Hill had
no use for any member of the committee
but Mr.. Donnelly. He talked at
him all the time, and smiled, and kept
his gaze riveted upon him much after
the fashion of the snake when in the act of
charming bird. Even after the committee
had adjourned Mr.. Hill was not willing to
let loose. He drew chair close up to his
old friend and engaged i'll earnest cOnversa-
ton, and when the GLOBE reporter lett they
did not seem to have any idea of tearing
themselves apart. Mr.. Hill'S speech before
the committee was an able and convincing
one. Taking his statement, he is the friend
Of the farmer and the Manitoba freightrateS
are lower than any other road. The stock
cannot be Watered, because $50. 900. 600 is
the limit. No matter how many miles OF
road are built this stock must remain
at that figure. The stock only pays
q dividend of G per cent (this was volunta-
rily reduced from s., and it cannot exceed
that. When the earnings are sufficient to
declare larger dividend the surplus is
given back to the people in reduced rates.
Mr.. HIPS picture was so striking that Mr..
Donnelly was completely captivated. and
sat in his chair in sort of dazed condition,
like q man who had by mistake taken
dose of morphine for seidlitz powder 1t
was rare spectacle worthy the brush of
an artist.
The railroad officials present were T. F.
Oakes, j. j. Hill, Judge Chandler W. H.
TruesdeIl, Col. Clough, Judge Springer
and w. E. Smith.
THE BALL OPENS.
Mr.. Donnelly had the bill read, and then
called on the railroad representatives to
make any remarks they saw proper
Col. Clough said the objection to the first
clause was that it is already incorporated in
the constitution. He could not see what
good it wOnld do to repeat it.
Mr.. Donnelly said the clause was to give
the legislature the right to delegate the
power to others.
Mr.. Clough said, in relation to the follow
ing clause, that it cOntiicted with conStitu-
tional provisions. lie said the railroad
companies generally had large bodies of
land, the control of which was legitimately
connected with the railroad business These
grants were made by the legislature. in
good many cases, and the state could not
take the lands away from them. He con-
tended that the clause might be construed
as TO prevent the railroad companies from
operating machine shops or eating stations
or dining cars. The speaker also contended
that clause three contlicted with the cOnsti-
tuition. He said there were probably a
dozen roads in the state paying only or ,
per cent, under contracts with the state
which have long time TO run. If this
constitutional amendment was passed it
would conflict with these corporations
holding these contracts. The clause
that a railroad company should cease
to exist as a railroad company when it
ceases to own and operate the line. he said.
was obnoxious and unconstitutional. 1t
would operate against the leased lines and
the legislature could not abrogate contracts
of this character. In regard to the last
! paragraph, Mr. Clough said the railroad
companies had certain rights which could
not be taken from them without due process
of law. 1t is outside the power of the leg
islatufe to break contracts with any rail-
road company without due process OF law.
A railroad company cannot be compelled to
obey any law passed by the legislature until
the validity of the law is estab-
lished by the courts, and the legal
death of cooperation cannot be declared
simply for violation of a legislative enact
| ment, the validity of when has not been
established by the courts. W. E. Smith,
the Manitoba solicitor, said he did not be-
lieve that the legislature intended to inter-
| fere with the railroads in the legitimate
conduct of their business. such as machine
| shops, eating stations and dining cars. He
! suggested
AN AAIENDMENT BE MADE,
cor such business as is incident thereto. y
He suggested that if the idea was to get at
the land grants, it should be stated spec-
fically. The bill. as drawn. would lead to
endless litigation. He also suggested that
it should be plainly stated that
warehouses should be built ''at
depOts or permanent side tracks"-and not
lat or near depots or side tracks" (Which
might be temporary. He said the rail
roads were willing to accede to any reason
able demand made npon them by the legis-
lature. but it seemed unwise to encumber
the constitution with too many amendments.
He thought it would be unwise to put anv
law on this subject on the statute book un-
til the interstate commerce bill, passed bv
congress, had been fairly tried.
j. j. Hill asked the committee to con-
slider very carefully the clause relating to